1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to preparing live (realtime) video, audio, or video and audio program content for distribution via time-shifted/on-demand methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Video on demand (VOD) systems allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content at any time the user desires. Television VOD systems deliver content, either by streaming or by download, through a set-top box, a computer, or other device. Although, in the past, VOD content has mainly included pre-existing content, VOD delivery of live content has become increasingly popular. However, before the content can be delivered, it must be processed for delivery. Such processing may include compression and encoding of the content. Additional processing may include preparation for Dynamic Advertising, Editing, Quality Analysis, Fingerprinting, and more. For Dynamic Advertising such processing includes digitally marking the original advertisements from the content, conditioning the stream, and adding the capability to select and deliver alternate advertisements during delivery of the content to the user.
A problem arises in that the time required to process live content for VOD, including preparation for Dynamic Advertising, can be quite long, often taking as much as 6 hours. This can be a serious problem due to the nature of the business of television broadcasting. In the world of television broadcasting, C3 refers to the 3 day period of time from when a program is first broadcast. During the C3 period, the broadcaster receives “credit” for every advertising “view” by a consumer, regardless of the medium: Live, VOD or DVR. Because of the time sensitivity and its impact on revenue potential for an asset, it is very important to quickly get a live program captured and prepared for VOD applications.
An exemplary block diagram of a prior art VOD preparation process is shown in FIG. 1. The live video/audio stream 101 includes a number of programs, such as the program that starts at T0 102 and ends at T1 103, the program that starts at T1 103 and ends at T2 104, and the program that starts at T2 104 and ends at T3 105. The process 110 of preparing the program that starts at T0 102 and ends at T1 103 includes block A 111, capturing the video/audio stream. Block A1 112 is performed once the program being captured ends, and includes identifying the start and end of the program of interest and editing the captured video/audio to include only the program. In block B 113, thumbnail images of the program are generated for use in ad splice marking. Likewise, in block C 114, a black frame index of the program is generated, also for use in ad splice marking. In block D 115, an operator places ad splice marks around the individual advertisements and/or the contiguous ad segments (ad pods). In block E 116, the marked content is encoded into one or more distribution formats, such as MPEG2 SD, MPEG2 HD, MPEG4 SD, MPEG4 HD, H.264 ABR, H.265, etc. In block F 117, a Quality Control process verifies the encoded content, and in block G 118, the encoded content is distributed. Each of these processing blocks must be performed serially, as the input to each block requires the output from the previous block. In practice, for a one hour live program, it can take up to six hours for process 110 to prepare the encoded content for distribution. A need arises for a technique by which content can be prepared for VOD that is quicker than existing techniques.